Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-07-23
SPECIAL CnrrsSpondence !

SPECIAL CurrSpondence
HAVANA. Cuha, july Over In the south
of US doomed the Great Stirrup KEY. s. for.
midable danger 10 sesmen shooting out grim
ieiges which rose here and there above the
water like black and sprawling tentaCles Of
some monstruus devil fish: while back within
the wrinkly rocks rose the lighthouse. white
and solemn as a aSestic monument among
the dark and dresry heaistones Il - myriai
rotting graves sui beyond and behind, and
maybe a srore of miles away, were seen here
and there upon the flaming mornings horizon
the black silhouettes Of Struggling giant
palms and toppling cocoa trees suggesting
tired and worn sentries stark still upon some
Nile land plain Tropic lands are kissed by
ceaseless zephyrs, intoxicated by wcndrous
ofors, hathed and flooded in eternal summer:
but now and then the sea or land, or both
present. aspeCts which strike the receptive
mind with a sense Of Loneliness that Is awful
But there Is not more interesting spot on
earth or sea than these very Bahama banks.
To know about them as you NAV by a leis,Irely
sail over them Of from four 10 SIX knots an
hour, Is was made by our heavily laden but
sturdy old craft, will pay for many rough
hours experience in advance Everybody
knows that somewhere of our Florida coast
are the Bahama banks: but whether they are
hanks of sand, or mud, or oyster shells. or are
the magical things they are few but seafaring
men know or care. Even the latter are by
mo means generally informed about them, for
vessels drawing more than fifteen feet OF
water cannot cross them. The great steam
eTs, barks and shI~ reach Cuba from Ameri-
can, and often European. ports exclusively
bv the Bahama channel and Gulf of Florida
nearly always rough bit of water on ac.
count Of swift Gulf Stream tides and ever
varying Withstand all other large craft
hound west from Europe hug the northern
shore Of Cuba, leaving the Bahamas away to
the north. But sch"oners, brigs, brigantineS
bark ntines, and all manner Of Lesser vessels
make this remarkable passage across the
hanks II sure of fourteen or fifteen feet Of
salt water between water line and bottom IT
Keel. Woe betide them. though, for any mis-
calculation. for. while the balmy trade winds
ever blow faV"rably. and the path from Hole
ia .he " all Cuhswari l. ~ plain aS level and
sure : a paved, endless street To horse
man. MANY and many a skipper bold who
has thought there WAS wet" enough on the
hanks to float his vessel whether the hyirog.
Iaphers who have sounded every ships
length over the submerged continent, said 81
or not, has of a sudden heard the keel of his
craft grind into the fiiuty coral and stanch
as she might be, come 10 "A groaning halt, tn
be beaten To pieces by the waves or become
pluIrder for the wreckerS The latter lie II,
wait for just snch reckless SEA captains on
every hand behind the KEYS and once let
vessels bottom get caught in the coral teeth
of the banks. in almost instant, i'm every
direction, the horizon will be dotted with the
smart sails of rakish craft, all swooping down
like vultures upon their prey.
The Bahama banks proper begin at Matt
nella. opposite the Florida bay Of st LucIe
They extend in a southeasterly direction.
gradually increasing in width TO a point op-
Posite the southeast coast of Florida from
thence growing narrower and preserving a
surface regularity generally conforming with
the chain Of islands themselves. terminating
il Navidad hank, just above the northeast
coast of Cuba. Their length is nearly go
miles, and their width varies from fifty to 40
mikes To the esst they merge into the Ba
hama Islands, hut on the west soundingS of
stS fathoms have been made from the almost
perpendicular sides Of the marvellous cr-a
tions of marine life; for every atom of this
almost inoonceivable formation is the result
of insect labor.
To secure some little idea of this deep sea
wonder Close Your ewes for a moment and
imagine chain Of mountains, thousands OF
feet in height, against one side Of which
stands pre. ipItous mass like foSSilizei honey
comb, white as snow. extending thousands Of
miles, and rising like a wall to nearly the
elevation Of the highest peaks. and whose
upper surface, for all this distance, is as level
rs q floor. That Is exactly what you could
zee here, could the ocean lie sucked dry, and
you be allowed to stand in the tremendous
channel where the Gulf Stream chafes and
surges eternally.
The width al the hanks at Hole in the
Wall Is no more than seventy-five miles; but
the course sailed without exception by vessels
bound for Cuba bears far to the south
that the distance Is trIfe over l25 miles.
Every inch of this slabas;er like surface can
be seen from your vessels deck. Station a
sailor amidships and let him ''hesve the Lead
every five minutes during the whole distance.
and he will call out all day long: Two an
a half fathom. sir!r Two an three quarter
fatbom. sir Two an a half, sir,~-"an
threeauarter. sir" until the sameness in tone
and depth would be startling
The water itself is remarkable in hrilliancy
OF cpfef dfru tdI-lu'tHcc. Sucn sndues OF
green We're never elsewhere seen The lace
like fringes Of every wave cap or rolling
scroll of water is seen threaded with emerald.
glittering among the snowy white with a
sparkle, gleam and simmer that are entranc-
ing And what n rare and wondrous treat it
Is TO stand the day through at the vessel rails
and peer down into this crystal space where
the witching forms of sea life move in their
such loving nearness, Why. it seems that
YOU can step out upon that binding floor
Of white, and wander at will with these sprites
of the sea. You feel that you can reach over
there and drag your hand softly over those
dark masses of sponge which now and then
the vessel presses beneath it, and. with the
SCOOP net with which you used TO catch min
nows when a boy, You could take mackereI.
humming bird fish, sun fish, and hundred
other dazzling, unnamed mites which saucily
fash their gorgeous colors in your very eyes,
ami you thrill TO do it. To me this was
day of DAYS ali too snort, but Of those
days IN mans life which, from its hint of
the marvellous forms and curioSties in ma
ture's mighty secrets, rds any one but n fool
of the last veStge Of infidelity, in the tre
mendous suggestiveness of the omniscience Of
the all creating Goi
More thar once the Uranus tubhy hull and
fat kee, scrap-d into beds of sponge and
coral that seiiSibly checked our speed. Then
It WAS that our captain tscame sublime III his
blaSphemous paragraphs. | say paragraphs,
for they were constructlyeiy such, and the
hreaks IA deliyerance were only where more
breath WAS needed. But nothing came of it
all, save a great swath asteru of s+ething,
milky whit. Va hos. CT wit d the ,.tneraii
waves was very beautiful indeed. So
won iruils incident or accident can,e from our
"Trip ~across the lnnkS,7 save when we an
chored AT night at their edge-our captain
wishing day y light for the rough jump into the